Head of UGCC shares his vision of Greek Catholic presence in eastern and southern Ukraine

During his first press conference as head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk stressed that expansion of pastoral activity of the UGCC to the east and south of Ukraine is needed, primarily, to provide pastoral care to his faithful, Greek Catholics in these regions.  

The Patriarch of the UGCC mentioned the words of his predecessor, Patriarch Lubomyr Husar that the UGCC moved its residence to Kyiv not “to be against someone but to be together with someone.”

“Our presence in various regions is primarily the desire to be together with our faithful. It is our first objective because our faithful, who were once deported to those regions, sought pastoral care. Therefore, it is our main objective,” stressed the patriarch at the press conference. 

Patriarch Sviatoslav said that the second objective is for the UGCC to be close to its Orthodox brethren in order to get to know them. “Our presence is aimed at being together with our Orthodox brethren and not against them,” stressed Patriarch Sviatoslav.

The third objective of the presence of the UGCC in the east and south, according to the hierarch, is to give to people, who are now outside the church, an opportunity to join it. Patriarch Sviatoslav gave an example from his own experience, namely, that his ministry in Luhansk showed that very many people do not know what the church is. Therefore, according to the head of UGCC, such people should be given a chance to join the church. 

In conclusion, Patriarch Sviatoslav stressed again that the presence of the UGCC in various regions of Ukraine does not mean by any means a confrontation with other churches but only the desire to be close to them in order to reach understanding.